


My You

by stevens-gem-family (live_from_new_york)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Crystal Gem Spinel, Evil Pearl, Gen, Now she’s back with a vengeance, Pink Diamond took Spinel and left Pearl in the Garden, Switcheroo au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 15:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21412279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/live_from_new_york/pseuds/stevens-gem-family
Summary: A mysterious dark Pearl just crash landed an injector in Beach City before poofing Amethyst, Garnet, and Spinel. Now, Steven and Greg wait for them to regenerate.A reimagining of the scene system/BOOT.PearlFinal(3).Info from the movie.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 61





	My You

Steven heard his dad’s heavy footsteps rushing up the front stairs before he saw him. 

“Steven!” Greg cried, as he burst through the front door, “I came as soon as I could. Are you okay?” 

He froze, seeing the pile of poofed gems scattered on the coffee table, “Holy sh... She really got everybody!” 

Steven groaned, pulling at his tired eyes with his hands.

“Is that her?” Greg asked, pointing carefully at the stone furthest away from him on the table. It was a pale milky white pearl in the shape of an oval, with ribbons of black swirling over the surface. It looked polluted, infected… contaminated. 

“Yeah…” Steven sighed. 

Greg’s face contorted with fear, “Who-”

“Some kind of Pearl, I think.” Steven interrupted. 

“Why?” Greg’s voice took on a higher pitch as his panic rose. 

Steven threw his hands up in frustration, “No idea.”

“How?” Greg grabbed at his forehead, flustered with anxiety and fear. 

“She hit all of us, with this!” Steven cried, pulling a small pink device out of his jacket pocket. He clicked the button on the side and a large, almost electric looking, scythe emerged from the end, glitching to life in the air. Greg yelped at the sight of the weapon, leaning back to get as far away as he could on the couch.  
  
Steven continued, “It did something extra weird to me, and now my powers aren’t working right. Look!” He lifted his shirt to expose his uncharacteristically dull gem and grunted, his eyes squeezing shut in concentration. A small pink glitch (that couldn’t quite be considered a shield) appeared in front of his stomach, flickering quickly before disappearing. 

“There’s something wrong with me, Dad.” His voice was small and paid as he resheathed the scythe, then put the device back into his pocket. He knew he was close to tears and he scrunched his eyes, willing himself to stay strong, “I just have no idea what’s going on.”

Greg laughed, trying and failing to ease the tension in the room, “Well, son, now you know how I feel almost all the time. But you know what else?” 

He paused, picking up the largest gem on the table, “Any moment now the gems are gonna do that thing where they glow and float in the air, and reappear better than ever!”

The deep pink stone in his hand began to glow, floating slowly before spinning in the air above them.

“See, here she comes!” Greg smiled reassuringly at Steven, “Good ol’ Spinel.”

As the spinning gained speed, the light coming from the gem began to take shape, flashing brightly before finalizing the design. Suddenly, Spinel was in front of them, her eyes wide and her smile bright. Her arms shot out, wrapping around Greg, two, three, four times. 

“Yippee! I’m so excited to meet you! I’m so happy to be your Best Friend!” Her high pitched giggle rang in their ears. 

“Oh no…. What’s going on?” They yelled in unison, their panic eyes meeting over her pink hair.

“Spinel! Focus!” Steven snapped, pulling one of the long pink arms away from Greg’s torso. She followed the movement, spinning Greg out of her grip like a ballroom dancer. He stumbled into the table and tried to regain his balance. 

Her big eyes squeaked as she twisted her body to look at Steven. Before she could say anything, another of the loose gems glowed, hovering in the air. Spinel let out an ‘eep’, as Greg moved away from the table, and she followed, ducking behind his shoulder. 

Slowly, Ruby took shape, battle ready with a stern look in her eyes. 

“Ruby!” Steven shouted, rushing towards her. 

She flinched, her arms moving up to an offensive stance in front of her chest. “Ah! You’re not my assignment.” Her tone was a sharp growl. 

“What’s going on?” Greg cried.

Spinel laughed, stretching herself over Greg and dangling her head upside down in front of him. “You silly! Dontcha know, this right here’s a Ruby! Dunno why there’s just one though… Normally, there’s at _ least _three!” 

The blue gem next to Ruby’s feet began to glow, and Spinel couldn’t resist sliding over to watch in awe as it began to hover above the table.

“Ooh! What’s it gonna be? What’s it gonna be?” She squealed. 

The gem’s light materialized and Sapphire landed softly on the table below her. 

“Oh wow, a Sapphire!” Spinel cooed, “These lil’ ladies can tell the future!” She winked over at Greg, whose lip curled as if to say, ‘no thank you.’

“My Sapphire!” Ruby announced, “As my sworn duty and sole purpose, I will protect you with my life.” 

Sapphire’s calm demeanor didn’t falter, “I know you will. That’s why I predict you won’t last more than a day.” 

“Wha?” Ruby broke her stance, caught off guard by the Sapphires unceremonious prediction. 

“Yikes! That’s awkward. Right, Best Friend?” Spinel laughed, elbowing Greg in the stomach.

“Come now,” Sapphire urged, sensing the next gem’s regeneration. She ushered Ruby out of the way just as the purple gem began to glow. 

“Oh god, this is our last hope!” Steven moaned, his heart sinking. He looked around at Spinel who was bouncing up and down behind his dad, and at Ruby who was standing firm in front of a seemingly unbothered Sapphire. 

After what felt like ages, Amethyst’s small form plopped clumsily on the table. 

Steven rushed forward, “Amethyst! Hey, Amethyst?”

She blinked owlishly up at him, parroting his words, “Hey, Amethyst?”

“What? No! You’re Amethyst!” Steven exclaimed.

She mimicked his gestures with a blank stare, “What? No! You’re Amethyst!” 

As though out of nowhere, Spinel popped up and giggled, “What? No! You’re Amethyst!” 

“Spinel! That’s not helping!” Steven snapped, “Are you taking this seriously? Do you really not recognize them? Do you not recognize me?” He whipped around, pleading with her, gesturing to the others.

Spinel froze, just for a moment, shocked by his outburst.

“Well... No. But! I do recognize my new Best Friend!” She sprung over to Greg, bouncing on her legs next to him with an unnerving grin. One of her arms curled around his shoulders and she stuck her tongue out happily. 

Behind them, the blemished pearl began to glow and the black ribbon-like stains faded away as it floated, leaving only a pure white pearl, encased in a holographic clam facing them.

“Guys! Get back!” Steven tried to move all of them behind him, but Spinel stood wide-eyed beneath the hovering light and scratched her head.

A calm voice spoke through the air, “Please, identify your-.”

Steven couldn’t bear to listen. He interrupted, shouting “**YOU!**” ready to charge at the offending gem. 

The voice continued, undeterred, “Greetings, **You**. Please state preferred customization options.”

Greg turned to Steven, his eyes wide, “What do we do? Is there a way to keep her in there?”

Steven’s heart raced and he could hear a buzzing in his ears, “I have no idea! I don’t even know what they mean by customization options!” 

Spinel curled an arm in the air to scratch her head comically, “Ehh… maybe just pick the regular?”

“Default setting selected. Please stand by.”

“Oh no, Spinel…” Steven wailed, “What did you do? What’s happening?” 

The clam floated away, moving to the empty section of the living room. Steven tried again to summon his shield, groaning with the effort, only to have it shudder and disappear. His head throbbed and ached. This was awful. This was exhausting! How was he supposed to fight this pearl _ again _? This time with no shield and, apparently, no Crystal Gems. 

The emerging figure twirled carefully in her clam with her head bowed. As her features began to more firmly materialize, she stepped forward and the clam dissipated behind her. 

“How do you do, my **You**?” She asked as she walked over to Steven. She genuflected, reaching for his hand reverently, “Thank you for bringing me into the world. I am at your eternal service, welcome to your new pearl.” 

Steven yanked his hand out of her reach and roared, “What did you do to us?” 

She took a startled step back, “My apologies, my **You, **I’m not sure what you’re referring to.” 

The pearl’s large eyes blinked up at him wide and innocent. 

His stomach twisted painfully and dread clenched at his throat. 

“You really don’t remember?” 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take on an AU by @saiscribbles on tumblr! They’ve been calling it the Switcheroo AU, which I think is amazing. 
> 
> Someone else on tumblr, I don’t remember who, pointed out that Pearl’s gem rotating would be anti-climactic compared to Spinel’s. I decided to change it so that her gem became almost infected by her grief, it began to turn black slowly. I doubt that could happen in canon, but black pearls are a real thing, so who knows? 
> 
> I loved trying to piece together what would change in this scene and how everyone would react. I know a lot of it is direct from the movie, but it was fun to make the little changes. There’s a chance I might rewrite more scenes, but I’m not sure just yet. 
> 
> If you liked this, please come say hi to me @stevens-gem-family on tumblr, or feel free to read some of my other works on AO3!


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